Overhead door holder



Aug. 27, 1935. M. J. SASGEN OVERHEAD DOOR HOLDER Filed March 22, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1935. M. .1. SASGEN 2,012,731

OVERHEAD DOOR HOLDER Filed March 22, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 KKK? i is formed to provideia circumferential shoulder the pull and push of Operation and torelieve the I pivot bolt 6 'of' any strains except those incident to holding the two parts together. The top edge l? of the rim libearsdirectly against theun- 'der' side of the cover lr4 and this construction which provides the side bearingandthetop bearing not only relieves the pivot-bolt of all side strains but retains the two levers securely in parallel planes. 7 V There are several functions of the devicerwhipch' it is desiredto provide'for. g v l The-'simplestiof these' i's merely to prevent the door frcm being swung' open too far andto make certain fth'at w enthe door starts toclos'ethe leverswill' beginto' collapse from their straightline extended position inthe'right direction. Other functions relate to causing 'the device to serveas a yielding lock to'rtain'the doorin iull open position, 'to serve as a friction-holding device to yieldingly hold 'thedoor in any part-way open position and to'ser'veas'a door-holding device withoutthat of retaining it in apart-way "openposition, Y f- 'In Figs. 2 t'o'8finclusive' I haveshownfthe form which includes the fr'iction means. with-in the hollow space in the palml3 there'is'secure'd a circular or ring like member l8 which is secured to the underside of the cover member by rivets 19. This ring membei'ffha's {an 'outer di'ameter ne'a'riy as large as the space' withinfthe rim i5 and is provided atone side-in its outer surface with a notch having slightly-inclined ends ll for a'purpose t6 be described and at its inner side directly opposite to the notch 20 with an inwardly extending tongue'or' projection 22. fBoth the notchand the projection are onthe side of the cover opposite to its arm5.f i

' The other lever 4 s provide'd with-ayielding projection 23 arranged'to moveradiallyinrela" 'tion' to the'rin'g member l'8fwhich acts as an' abut ment for the 'mov'able member" 2 3. reassember 23,; as best shown in Fig}; 2, c'ompris"es a central stop member 24 mounted within a tubular member 25 which? iii-turn; is mounted in ;a'lo ngi tudinal guide opening 2 provided the" arm A adjacent "t its'inhei -end ari adially-to the r 'rnefsto membe 4; ay e pr vi ed on its inner end withfone'" or InOre V-sh'aped or narrow edges 21 for-contact with the outer surf ace of the ring I 9 and is adapted, at times, tdbe forced against the ring with considerable pressure thus providing friction enojlg'h to .holdf'tlie door yieldingly in any-' partfway open'position." 4 The -meinbef-24. which may be termed a locking'jb olt is cylindrical in shapfanu fat its inner shown at ,28 Fig 8;"and' the innerendioffthe hole inwhich the member 24-slides is'ot a similar flattened shape top and bottom to IiOld tIiem'ember 24 against turning around andwith its V- shapedfedges at its innerend properly positioned against the outer cylindrical surface of the" ring l8, that is in longitudinal-relation theretoi'f r The inward-movement ofthemember 24 is lim- "ited by shoulders "29 fatth'e rear ends of the flats tubular memberFH-and abutting at its rear end against a screw plug 3| mounted in the rear end of the tubular member 25. By adjusting the screw plug in or" out 7 the tension of the' spring 3:0..canbegadjusted to obtain the resultsdesired.

The results desired are of course the retaining of; the door in open position with the least resistance under thecircumstances, which it is necessary to apply.

Many details affect the necessary adjustment of the spring 38 depending of course upon the particularcircumstances, size, weight and position of the door and whether an inside or an outside door. The easy adjustment of the spring 30 from the -outsideby a screw-driver makes it very easy to adjust the hold er I to the particular door upon which it is used and after it is in place; andalso to changethe action-of the stop'from an easy holding action to a strongerholding action if such is requiredto properly holdlth'e dooragainst drafts, or

against the shoulder against the manually operated:cammember 36. The tubular member is mounted-to slide back and forth, that is radially ;'of the pivot'bolt'fi' andfor the purpose of holding the member 24-irom rotating it isprevented from rotating. W I i 1 In the form shown this is accomplishedbymaking its outer surface hexagonal in shape as best shown in Fig. 7, and the'hole in which it slides is of like shape.. The member 25isprovided on its outer surface with an annular shoulder32 near its outer end and the hole in which it slides is prov'ided'with a cooperating shoulder 33 near its for- :ward end and between these two shoulders is arranged a' coiled spring 34 which serves to urge the member 25 rearwardly. If the member 25 is free to move rearwardly the inner end of the member 24' is withdrawn from contact' with the ring abut- "men'tf l8 a'ndfdoes not function to control the movements of the door. For preventing the escape of the member 24 and for forcing it inwardly against the action of the'sp'ring 34;1 provide an adjustable stop at its rear end having two positions: one for allowing it to be pushed back-free of the ringrl8, andthe other Where it is held against the periphery of the ring l8 and ready to bepushed'into the holding notch 20 whenever thedoor'is openeam enough.

'f'IheL; adjustable stop" consists of a bolt-like member 35 arranged" vertically and having a T- shapedhead 36at its upper end arranged directly in line with the member 25. The member 35 is held in position with the T,-head down against 7 'th'e u'pper side of the arm 4, as best shown in Fig.

"2, by a, handle member 31 and a coiled spring 38 on the shank of the member 35 and between the arm 4 and the handle member'3'l. The spring 38 adds friction so that'the member 35 will stay in a the positionas set. When; it is set with its T- head extending'lengthwise of the arm 4 the tubularmember 25 is-held against being forced back by the" spring 34 and hence the inner end of the member 124 is yieldingly held pressed against the periphery of the" ring member I8. When the member 35 is turned so that its T-head extends acrossthe arm 4 the tubular member is pushed back bythe spring 34 into contact with the side of the if-head and the member 24 is withdrawn from contact with thering I8. Preferablythe hanable member 35 is provided to set the member 24 dle 3'! is elongated and extends in line with the T-head 36 so that it will indicate the position of the T-head, whether in door-locking or door-unlocked position.

When the T-head 36 is turned to hold the tubular member 25 inwardly and the door is opened to its widest extent the projection 24' is forced into thenotch 20,. as best shown in Fig. 3. As both the inner end of the member 24 and the ends 2| of the notch 20 are inclined they tend to force the bolt member 24 out of the notch, if the door is swung with sufiicient force, against the resiliency of the spring 30. That is, when .the door has been opened so that the arms 4 andi are in substantially straight-line extended position, the door can be swung shut by a forceful pull on the door knob in the usual way,'the force applied being sufiicient to force the bolt 24 out of the notch 29.

To assurethe folding of the arms 4 and 5 back in the direction from which they were extended, there is provided a' yielding stop which tends to throw the arms 4 and 5 out of substantially straight alinement in the right direction;

This yielding stop means'consists of the rigid projection or tooth 22 on the ring [8 and a yielding member carried by the opposite arm. This member consists of aU-shaped spring 39which is received in an open-sided pocket 4|] formed around the pivot bolt 6 on the arm 4. Preferably the spring 39 is formed with an eye M at its base through which the pivot bolt 6 passes and which arrangement keeps the spring in position; the outer ends 4243 project out into the path of the projection 22 and as the'armsare swung to their extended position, as'bestshown in Fig. 3, the projection 22 tends to close the spring, the spring being held against bodily movement by the walls of the pocket 49. When the door is "unlocked and allowed to close, the spring 39 starts the arms to swing in the direction opposite to that in which they swung when opening. It will be readily seen from Fig. 3 that the same action would occur if the arms were opened by swinging in the opposite direction. In other words, without alteration the device can be properly applied to either a rightor a left-hand swinging door. The notch 20 in the ring I8 is wider than the inner end of the stop and the yielding holding means serves to retain the two arms slightly out of straight line position when the door is swung fully open, as plainly indicated in Figs. 3 and 4.

In some instances it is not desirable to provide any means for holding the door, frictionally, in I a partly-open position. In such case the device is the same in every particular except that the abutment ring I8 is replaced by a cam member 44 as shown inFigs. 12 to lfi inclusive. This cam member 44 is secured to the upper cover member M in any suitable manner as by rivets 45; and is so arranged that when the door is opened and the 7 arms 4 and 5 swung toward straight-line extended scribed. The notch has inclined ends and thebolt -member 24, which in this form may have a single rather than a double end, has inclined sides, so that a pull on the door strong enough will force the'lock member back and the door can then be swung freely to close it.

In this form as in the other, the manually-opereither inwardly to locking position or allow it to be forced'back out of locking position. Furthermore, in this form as in the other form, the device 7 by reason of the u shaped spring 39, and the cam 45 being double-ended and symmetrical, the device is capable of being applied with equal facility to either a leftor a right-hand door. 7

I am aware that somewhat similar devices have been produced; but so far as I am aware none has operation did not'tend to distend and prematureheretofore been produced in which the strains of ly wear out the parts, particularly. the central locking parts. By means of theradially-acting locking bolt and the ample bearing between the enlarged palms at the connected ends of the arms 4 and ,5, I have avoided these objectionable features and provided a simple device for the purpose which is .very durable and which can be arranged to accomplish the features desired.

As many modifications of the invention will readily suggest themselves to one skilled'in the art, I do not limit or confine the invention to the specific details of construction and operation herein shown and described. I claim: 4

1. In a device of the kind described, two levers V pivotally connected at one end to swing in parallel planes, the connected ends of thelevers being enthe sides of the opening in the pocket constituting spring stops. I

2. In a device of the kind described, a pair of levers pivotally connected atone endto swing in parallel planes, a notched abutment on the pivoted end of one lever, a cooperating stop carried on the pivoted end of the other lever, a movable guide plug in which the stop is mounted for limite'd movement back and forth, meansyieldingly holding the guide plug at the rear limit of its movement, independent meansv for yieldingly holding the stop at the forward limit of its movement, means for readily adjustingthe tension of said independent means without changing the tension of the means for yieldingly holding the guide.- .pl e. V r

3. In a device of the kind described and having I two swinging levers pivoted together at one end to swing in parallel planes, one of the' levers having 1 a centrally arranged notched abutment on its piv-' oted end, a yielding stop member on the other lever adapted to engage the abutment to yieldingly retain the levers iii-substantially extended relation, a movable guide member arranged for limited movement back and forth,*and in which the stop member is mounteda spring foryieldingly retaining the guide member at the rear limit of its movement, a second spring for yielding'ly retaining the stop mem er at. the'forward'limit of its movement, means for readily adjusting the tensionof the said second. spring. tomeet the requirements, and a manually operable cam mem ber for forcing the guide member inwardly as and for the purposespecified.

MICHAEL J. SASGEN. 

